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Tag Archives: Disaster Preparedness

We are cross-posting an important entry from Texas State Librarian Mark Smith’s blog. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission, in cooperation with the Texas Library Association, has been working to identify disaster recovery resources and options for use by libraries in the Houston and gulf coast area. First, it is important to be aware…

An important element of managing government records is planning for and recovering from natural disasters. In our consulting and training courses we advise securing the safety of personnel first and foremost, and then sorting out any damage to vital records in your office. While we are still waiting for the storm to disappear, recovery efforts…

Of all the records that your office creates, very few warrant the creation of back-up tapes and those that do will typically be an essential record. In short, essential records are usually records that are necessary to conduct emergency responses, to resume or continue operations,and to protect the safety and rights of residents. Other records…

What crazy weather we’ve lately had in the Central Texas area. Severe storms, tornado warnings, and flooding in numerous cities including San Marcos, Houston, Wimberley, and Austin, with 70 counties declared in a state of emergency as of May 29. What should you do to ensure you’re prepared and your important information is protected from such incidents? What…

Murphy’s Law. Simply stated: if anything can go wrong, it will. In the world of emergency preparedness, it’s not a matter of if something goes wrong but when. You may have noticed some recent incidents around the country involving flooding, power outages, and tornadoes. Once health and safety issues have been handled, what happens to…

Every once in awhile we have the opportunity to explore an area that’s related to, but outside the traditional scope of, records management. As our agency’s Continuity of Operations (COOP) Coordinator, I attended the Emergency Management All Hazards/Stakeholders Summit in Houston 6 December to learn some tidbits to implement or at least consider in our planning efforts. The audience…

By Bret Adams and Angela Ossar, Government Information Analysts Central Texas has endured record-setting temperatures for weeks this summer, and is now receiving national attention as numerous devastating wildfires sweep across the landscape. Protecting government records from a large-scale disaster such as wildfires is a matter of planning. We offer below a refresher on the…